Yesterday here at Hot Foot, Rob posted some some of what he believes are cons to the WBC. Among the things he noted were high pitch counts to Oliver Perez, Francisco Rodriguez throwing consecutive four-out saves, and injuries to other players in the tournament.
First of all, I agree that it’s probably not for the best that Ollie threw 85 pitches. Yet, the 85 pitch cap is there for a reason - it is still 85 pitches, it is not the end of the world. John Maine threw 56 pitches in his last start, John Niese threw 57. Those numbers aren’t 85, but everybody will be throwing close to 85 within the next weekish, so Ollie throwing 85 isn’t the best situation, but it’s not the end of the world either.
Next, I believe K-Rod throwing four out saves is a blessing. It’s not as if he is being over worked – the back to back saves were not on consecutive days. I, for one, am a firm believer that closers should throw more four out saves, and should be willing to pitch whenever the team needs him, not just for the final three outs. Now, if K-Rod is willing to throw four out saves for Venezuela, there is no reason he shouldn’t be willing to do that for the Mets.
Finally, yes there have been some minor injuries to players such as Ryan Braun, Chipper Jones, Dustin Pedrioa and others in the WBC. The argument saying these players got injured because they are in the WBC is fairly specious, as they would be doing very similar activities in spring training. It’s not as if somebody taking a swing in a WBC game is so much more likely to get hurt than a guy taking a swing in a spring training game.
So yes, I believe there are some flaws to the World Baseball Classic as it stands now, but these should not be drafted among those concerns.
Pete Lappin (3)
